The biggest selling X Factor winner's singles revealed Google + The X Factor celebrates 13 series of Saturday night domination and unmissability in 2016, and as we start out on the journey to find the new champion, we look back at the 12 who came before. As diverse artists as they all are, they have at least two things in common – first of all, they won the show and released a winner’s single. And secondly, they all released at least one album. So when we count out the numbers, who comes out on top? It’s the ultimate display of public approval, the actual purchase of their music. When the studio lights have gone down and they’re on their own, did their onscreen popularity guarantee them hefty sales? Winner's singles It’s a close-run thing when it comes to singles, with the Top 2 artists benefitting from the digital age. There have been four million-selling winner’s singles and it’s pretty close at the top. 3: Shayne Ward – That’s My Goal The second winner of The X Factor, all the way back in 2005, super-talented Shayne Ward was the first winner to score a million-seller.

Shayne is also the only champion so far to release a totally original song – everyone else has launched their career with a cover version. Despite not having the advantage of convenient downloads when he won, Shayne still shifted an impressive 740,000 copies in his first week on sale. That’s My Goal has sold a total of 1.11 million copies in the UK. Currently taking a break from music, you can find Shayne running the knicker factory in Coronation Street. MORE: Look back at Shayne Ward's full Official Chart history, including 4 Top 10 singles 2: James Arthur – Impossible Finishing a very close second is 2012’s winner James Arthur, who scored the fastest-selling single of the year with this Shontelle cover. Impossible has sold 1.294 million copies in the UK. MORE: Look back at the Official Top 100 Singles of 2012 here 1: Alexandra Burke – Hallelujah The champion is Series 5’s victor Alexandra Burke, who was the first X Factor winner to have her single immediately available for download.

Alex still managed to sell over 570,000 physical copies of her cover of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah, and altogether the song cleared a million copies in just four weeks – over 576,000 in its first sales week alone. It’s sold a total of 1.297 million copies in the UK, giving Alexandra another win to add to her haul. MORE: Look back at Alexandra Burke's full Official UK Chart history, including 3 Number 1 singles And the rest… There’s one more million seller courtesy of 2010’s winner Matt Cardle, whose Biffy Clyro cover When We Collide has sold 1.01 million copies. Series 3 winner Leona Lewis has a million in her sights – she’s currently on 916,000 with A Moment Like This.

Further down the tally, 2014's winner Ben Haenow notched up a healthy 508,000 sales of Something I Need, while the very first winner of the show Steve Brookstein scores a sales tally of 204,000 for his winning single Against All Odds, originally a hit for Phil Collins and a Number 1 in 1999 for Westlife and Mariah Carey. In last place on the list is 2015's winner Louisa Johnson. Her Bob Dylan cover Forever Young is the only winner's single not to reach Number 1 (it peaked at 9) and has sold 79,000 units in total. Here’s the full Top 12 ranking of all The X Factor’s winning singles so far… © 2016 The Official Charts Company. All rights reserved. Debut albums So once the winning single is out, talk turns to debut albums, but who had the selling power for their very first long-player? Let’s just say this is pretty much a one-horse race.

1: Leona Lewis – Spirit Way out in front of all her fellow winners is 2004’s victor Leona Lewis, whose debut album Spirit has sold an incredible 3.13 million copies, making it one of the bestselling albums of all time in the UK. Leona is behind only Adele and Amy Winehouse when it comes to bestselling albums by British female acts . Spirit’s success may well have been helped along, of course, by Leona’s launch single Bleeding Love, which is a million seller and was Number 1 for an astonishing seven weeks. 2: Alexandra Burke – Overcome Another Top 2 result for our singles’ winner, Alexandra’s debut album Overcome has shifted almost 820,000 copies since its release in 2009. The album contains three Number 1 singles, Hallelujah, Bad Boys and Start Without You. 3: Shayne Ward – Shayne Ward Good news for Shayne Ward too: he scores Number 3 position in our albums countdown too, with his debut shifting 539,000 copies. And the rest… The only group to win The X Factor, Little Mix, score the fourth bestselling debut.

Even though it peaked at Number 3, DNA comes in with a sales tally of 388,000 so far. 2009 winner Joe McElderry comes in 9th place, with just 33 or so copies edging him ahead of Steve Brookstein. Ben Haenow's self-titled collection finishes in last place, with 70,000 copies shifted in its lifetime. Here’s the full rundown… X Factor winner Alexandra Burke's 'Hallelujah' is biggest-selling single of 2008 - Telegraph Celebrity news X Factor winner Alexandra Burke's 'Hallelujah' is biggest-selling single of 2008 X Factor winner Alexandra Burke's version of Leonard Cohen's song Hallelujah has been revealed as the biggest-selling single of the year. X Factor winner Alexandra Burke's cover of Hallelujah is the biggest-selling single of the year. Photo: PA 11:51AM GMT 29 Dec 2008 Burke sold another 311,000 copies last week to total 888,000 singles, including downloads and CDs, in the final two weeks of the year.

Duffy's Rockferry was comfortably the biggest-selling album of 2008, according to the Official Charts Company data. The results also showed Syco Music, the company set up by X Factor judge Simon Cowell, released the two most popular singles of this year and the fourth most popular album - Leona Lewis's Spirit. Burke pushed the X Factor Finalists' charity single Hero, with sales of 751,000, into second place. Coming third, Duffy sold 536,000 copies of Mercy - the only other single to sell more than half a million copies. Related Articles Top 10 in sales of X Factor winner singles | Central - ITV News 18 December 2013 at 5:56pm Top 10 in sales of X Factor winner singles X Factor logo Photo: X Factor/Syco With Sam Bailey No1 in the midweek charts she's looking well on the way to getting the coveted Christmas top spot. But with 67,000 copies of her debut single 'Skyscraper' sold so far - how does it compare to other X Factor winner's singles? 1.

Shayne Ward - That's My Goal - 2005 Copies sold in first week: 742,180 First chart position: 1 Weeks at Number One: 4 X Factor first week sales ranking: 1 Series Two winner Shayne Ward is yet to be knocked off the top spot with his X Factor's winner's single first week sales. Unusually this song was rush released the Wednesday before Christmas as it wash't ready when the Mancunian shop assistant was crowned winner the previous Saturday night. Even so it sold more than 700,000 copies in five days - 313,000 of these in its first two days on sale, and then went on to become the second biggest-selling single of 2005, easily claiming the Christmas Number One spot. 2.

Alexandra Burke - Hallelujah - 2008 Copies sold in first week: 576,046 First chart position: 1 Weeks at Number One: 3 X Factor first week sales ranking: 2 In 2009 Alexandra Burke stole the nation's hearts when in the final, she almost had a nervous breakdown on live television while performing a duet with her musical idol Beyonce. Then, when she was announced series winner, she was similarly shocked, and blubbed her way through the second live performance of her first single, a cover of Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah'. It stormed the Christmas chart, and is the second best selling X Factor winner's single of all time. 3. Leona Lewis - A Moment Like This - 2006 Copies sold in first week: 571,253 First chart position: 1 Weeks at Number One: 4 X Factor first week sales ranking: 3 Leona Lewis remains the biggest selling artist to emerge from the X Factor with 4.4 million singles sales and 3.9 million albums sales to her name.

She got all that started off in style with her winner's single 'A Moment Like This'. It was originally penned for the first winner of American Idol Kelly Clarkson as the 2003 series' winner's single - and it served the same purpose for Leona in 2006, safely securing her the Christmas top spot. 4. James Arthur - Impossible - 2012 Copies sold in first week: 490,000 First chart position: 1 Weeks at Number One: 3 X Factor first week sales ranking: 4 James Arthur's debut is one of the fastest selling singles in X Factor winner's history. In the week after claiming series glory - 490,000 copies of 'Impossible' were sold - but surprisingly the cover version originally released by Barbadian singer-songwriter Shontelle, wasn't enough to get him the Christmas top spot. It was released a week before the chart race began, and was narrowly beaten by the Justice Collective - a charity single for the victims of the Hillsborough disaster, including contributions from Robbie Williams and former X Factor contestant Rebecca Ferguson, with a cover of The Hollies' He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother. 5.

Joe McElderry - The Climb - 2009 Copies sold in first week: 450,838 First chart position: 2 Weeks at Number One: 1 X Factor first week sales ranking: 5 Joe McElderry's Miley Cyrus cover had everything it needed to get the Christmas Number One spot - massive promotion, an even bigger key change, and Saturday night prime time TV exposure - but all that was derailed by an online campaign to stop Simon Cowell's supposed monopoly on the top of the festive charts. The battle was won by a re-release of 'Killing In The Name Of' by Rage Against The Machine - perhaps not the best single as a stocking filler! Nevertheless, it beat Mr McElderry's very respectable 450,000 single sales - by around 52,000 copies & downloads. The X Factor winner did however claim the top spot the following week. 6.

Matt Cardle 'When We Collide' - 2010 Copies sold in first week: 439,007 First chart position: 1 Weeks at Number One: 3 X Factor first week sales ranking: 6 Biffy Clyro fans didn't take too kindly to the reworking of the Scottish rock group's hit 'Many Of Horror (When We Collide)', which was simply titled 'When We Collide' when launched as Matt Cardle's winner's single. It shifted double Little Mix managed a year later, and reclaimed the Christmas Number One spot after Simon Cowell's talent act was kept at bay by Rage Against The Machine in 2009. It became the 5th highest selling X Factor winner's single since the series began. 7. Leon Jackson - When You Believe - 2007 Copies sold in first week: 275,742 First chart position: 1 Weeks at Number One: 3 X Factor first week sales ranking: 7 Leon Jackson took on an almighty duet by arguably the biggest singing divas in history for his winner's single.

'When You Believe' was a worldwide smash for Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey - which the 2009 winner did his best to emulate. In the years when it seemed inevitable a Simon Cowell managed artist would go straight in at Christmas Number One, Leon Jackson got the gift he was looking for, but with nowhere near the number of first week sales we've come to expect of late. 8. Little Mix - 'Cannonball' - 2011 Copies sold in first week: 210,000 First chart position: 1 Weeks at Number One: 1 X Factor first week sales ranking: 8 Despite being the fastest selling single of 2011 - Little Mix hold the unenviable record for having one of the lowest selling X Factor winner's singles. Their cover of Damian Rice's'Cannonball', which was originally released by the Irish folk singer in 2003, sold 210,000 copies in its first week - the lowest since 2004's winner Steve Brookstein.

And again, released the week before the Christmas chart - they missed out on being on top on the big day - instead it belonged to the Military Wives led by Gareth Malone - the 100 strong choir of the wives of servicemen on tour in Afghanistan, with Wherever You Are. 9. Steve Brookstein - Against All Odds - 2004 Copies sold in first week: 127,701 First chart position: 2 Weeks at Number One: 1 X Factor first week sales ranking: 9 Phil Collins' classic Against All Odds was chosen as the first winner's song when X Factor burst onto our screens 10 years ago. But against the might of Band Aid 20's reworking of 'Do They No It's Christmas', it was no match, and managed number 2 in the race for Christmas Number One 2004. It did however climb to pole position when the New Year came. It is the lowest selling X Factor winner's single since the series began. ???.

Sam Bailey 'Skyscraper' - 2013 Copies sold so far: 67,000 Midweek chart position: 1 Sam Bailey is currently Number One in the midweek singles chart. As of last night she's sold 67,000 copies of her debut single "Skyscraper', which is a cover version of Demi Lovato's original. So that's well behind the likes of Shayne Ward and James Arthur at this time in their fledgling careers. Could this mean we've got X Factor fatigue? Or will Sam Bailey trump on album sales? We'll just have to wait and see! X Factor: Little Mix have lowest-selling winner's single since 2004 | Media | The Guardian Television industry X Factor: Little Mix have lowest-selling winner's single since 2004 Little Mix's Cannonball tops chart but first-week sales are lowest of X Factor's top acts since Steve Brookstein X Factor winners Little Mix with their debut single Cannonball. They are (from left) Jade Thirlwall, Jesy Nelson, Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Perrie Edwards.

Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA Television industry X Factor: Little Mix have lowest-selling winner's single since 2004 Little Mix's Cannonball tops chart but first-week sales are lowest of X Factor's top acts since Steve Brookstein Monday 19 December 2011 08.23 EST First published on Monday 19 December 2011 08.23 EST Close This article is 5 years old The X Factor winners Little Mix have topped the chart with Cannonball, but the single's first-week sales were the lowest of any of the ITV1 show's top acts since Steve Brookstein in 2004. Little Mix sold 210,000 copies of Cannonball, making it the fastest-selling single of the year so far and outselling the rest of the Official Singles Chart top five combined. But the girl band fell far behind the sales heights hit by previous winners of the Simon Cowell talent show including last year's winner, Matt Cardle, who sold 439,007 copies of his single When We Collide in its first week.

The show's 2005 winner Shayne Ward recorded the most first-week sales, shifting 742,180 copies of his debut, That's My Goal. Little Mix only manage seventh place out of the eight winners to date, ahead of Brookstein's 127,701 for his Phil Collins cover Against All Odds in 2004, but behind Leon Jackson's 275,742 for When You Believe in 2007. Indeed, Ward sold more copies of That's My Goal in its first day on release than Little Mix did in a week. But the latest The X Factor winners face tough competition if they are to remain on top and claim the much-cherished Christmas No 1 . Bookmakers have made the Military Wives Choir, a 100-strong choir led by BBC2 star Gareth Malone and featuring the spouses of servicemen in Afghanistan, the odds-on favourite to take the festive top spot. After several years of uninterrupted growth, the audience for this year's X Factor final was down 25% on 2010. The final Sunday night show pulled in 13 million viewers, down from 17.2 million last year .

Critics blamed the slump on "finals fatigue" , with the final stretched over four hours on a Saturday and Sunday night. It was also the first UK edition of the show not to feature Cowell on the judging panel after he left to focus on the US launch of his show. It remained, however, a big ratings and revenue driver for ITV1. The broadcaster said it averaged 11 million viewers over the course of its 17-week run, making it the third most successful series in The X Factor's eight-year history. Little Mix's Cannonball is a cover of a Damien Rice song first released in 2003. The Irish folk singer benefited from The X Factor publicity, with his original version of the song climbing to No 19 in this week's chart. It previously reached No 32 in 2003 and 19 when it was re-released a year later. The X Factor winners – the top first-week sellers 1. Shayne Ward – That's My Goal 742,180 (2005) 2. Alexandra Burke – Hallelujah 576,046 (2008) 3.

Leona Lewis – A Moment Like This 571,253 (2006) 4. Joe McElderry – The Climb 450,838 (2009) 6. Leon Jackson – When You Believe 275,742 (2007) 7. Little Mix – Cannonball 210,000 (2011) 8. Steve Brookstein – Against All Odds 127,701 (2004) • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediatheguardian.com or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication". • To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook . All the X Factor winners EVER: But where are they now? - Mirror Online TV All the X Factor winners EVER: But where are they now?

With the final fast approaching, let's take a look at the illustrious line-up of previous X Factor winners Share Get celebs updates directly to your inbox + Subscribe Could not subscribe, try again laterInvalid Email Video Loading Click to play Tap to play The video will start in 8Cancel Play now Share this video Watch Next The X Factor ends this weekend with three contenders battling it out to be crowned winner. Bookmakers put Fleur East ahead of the other two finalists Ben Haenow and Andrea Faustini. But when the excitement dies down, how many of the show's winners have turned their TV success into a viable music career? Let's take a look at some of the X Factor 's past winners, to see how they've done since. Which X Factor Winners have been most successful? X Factor winners' top 40 singles Leona Lewis has clearly had the biggest success in terms of top 40 singles, leaving rivals Little Mix and Alexandra Burke in the dust. If we don't count Sam - who's only a year into her career and is (at present) still signed, Steve doesn't come out of this very well.

X Factor winners' number 1 singles Surprisingly, very few contestants have had number one singles beyond their winner's single. Only Leona, Alexandra and Little Mix have topped the chart more than once. It should perhaps be noted that One Direction , who came third in the 2010 X Factor, have had three number ones and 11 top 40 singles, leaving all of the winners in the dust. Steve Brookstein 1 Top 40 singles Steve was the very first winner of the X Factor, back in 2004. Fresh from his victory, his winner's single, a cover of Phil Collins' Against All Odds was pipped to Christmas number one by the Band Aid 20 revamp of Do They Know It's Christmas? But Steve's debut climbed to number one in its second week on the chart. His debut album, Heart and Soul went in at number one, but that was his last taste of success. He was dropped by SonyBMG just eight months into his contract and became embroiled in a feud with Simon Cowell over his treatment on the show.

Shayne Ward 6 Top 40 singles Shayne Ward , who won the second series in 2005, bagged the X Factor's first Christmas number one, and to date is the only winner to launch his career with an original song. That's My Goal sold 313,000 copies on its first day, making it the third fastest-single of all time. He was given a million-pound contract with Cowell's Syco label, who released his debut album in 2006, which was certified four times platinum in Ireland, and platinum in the UK. His follow-up album, Breathless, was an even greater success in Ireland, but peaked at number two in the UK. The lead single from Breathless, No U Hang Up, not only hit the top spot in Ireland, but has an undeniably great title. He was dropped by Syco in 2011 after poor sales of third album Obsession, and went on to appear on Dancing on Ice and star in 80s-themed West End musical Rock of Ages. Leona Lewis 13 Top 40 singles Leona is generally considered the X Factor's first bona-fide star.

She began to study at London fame academy the Brit School, but left aged 17 to "get out there." After winning the 2006 series, she released a cover of Kelly Clarkson's A Moment Like This, which made it to Christmas number one selling more copies than the rest of that week's top 40 combined. Her first post- X Factor single, Bleeding Love stayed at number one for seven weeks, and also topped the chart in Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, France, Germany, Norway, Swizerland, Belgium, The Netherlands, Austria, Canada and the United States. Since then she's had a string of hit singles and albums, recorded the theme song for Avatar and embarked on two world tours. She's currently working on her fifth studio album. Leon Jackson 2 Top 40 singles Pint-sized Scottish crooner Leon Jackson charmed his way to winning the 2007 season of X Factor.

An outsider to win the show, his victory over rival Rhydian Roberts was described as "the biggest shock in the history of reality TV betting." His winner's single, an arrangement of Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston's duet When You Believe, was Christmas Number one that year, reportedly selling 40 copies a minute in Woolworths at its peak. But that was his last taste of the top spot. Follow-up single Don't Call This Love peaked at number three, and debut album Right Now only made it to number four. The album's poor sales prompted Syco to unceremoniously drop Jackson, and he was voted the second biggest reality TV flop in a national survey - only losing out to Steve Brookstein. Since then he's kept writing and recording, and did an acoustic tour in 2010, but further hits have failed to materialise. Alexandra Burke 8 Top 40 singles Alexandra Burke was hotly tipped to be the next Leona, and although she hasn't had quite the rampant success, she's done better than most.

After beating JLS to win the X Factor, her winner's single, a cover of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah was the 2008 Christmas number one, despite a campaign to have Jeff Buckley' version of the song beat her to it. Since then she's had a string of hits, several BRIT and MTV award nominations and toured with Beyonce. On top of her UK success she bagged a £3.5m, five album US deal with Epic records. Joe McElderry 4 Top 40 singles Joe's winner's single, a cover of Miley Cyrus' The Climb, was caught up in one of the X Factor's biggest controversies - and was the first to be beaten to the Christmas top spot for four years. It was kept off the top by Rage Against The Machine's Killing In The Name, after a Facebook campaign in protest against the show's grip on the Christmas number one tradition. His debut album, Wide Awake, peaked at number three and dropped out of the top 40 within three weeks. In total, the album had sold just over 100,000 copies by December 2010.

His contract with Syco expired in 2011 and wasn't renewed. He's since spoken of his unhappiness about his time with Syco, but that the split was "amicable." A consummate reality TV star, Joe also won Popstar to Opera in 2011 and The Jump in 2014. Matt Cardle 4 Top 40 singles Essex heartthrob Matt Cardle triumphed in the 2010 X Factor. His winner's single - a cover of Biffy Clyro's only ballad, Many of Horror (retitled When We Collide) - regained Syco's grip on the festive top spot, where it stayed for three weeks. His debut album, Letters, stayed on the chart for 16 weeks, peaking at number two. Unfortunately, follow-up singles fared less well and he parted ways with Syco and Columbia records in 2012. Since then he's released a couple of moderately well received albums and continues to tour, but he's not seen the same success as the act that came third in 2010 - a little group called One Direction.

Little Mix 3 Top 40 singles James Arthur won series nine of the X Factor, and his winner's single Impossible hit the number one spot, selling more than 1.25million copies in the UK. He was knocked off the top spot by the Justice Collective's Hillsborough Disaster charity single He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother, which was that year's Christmas number one. His eponymous debut album debuted at number two in the UK, but after that, the wheels started to fall off. He became involved in a number of controversies, most notably about the use of homophobic lyrics in a song , which led to high profile Twitter face-offs with celebrities including Frankie Boyle and Matt Lucas. And there's not many careers that can come back from iTunes offering refunds on your album due to public outcry. 1 Top 40 singles Sam Bailey beat rivals "little" Nicholas McDonald and Luke "hairy" Friend to victory in last year's X Factor. Her winner's single, a cover of Demi Lovato's Skyscraper was the first since 2010 to take the Christmas number one spot.

Since then, she's supported Beyonce at a live show in Birmingham and had the first X Factor number one album since Alexandra Burke's 2009 debut. There was some controversy about her previous music industry experience. Despite being billed as a prison warden, she was revealed to have performed on cruise ships, in clubs and at music festivals for years before hitting big on the reality show. She's due to go out on her first headline tour in January and her autobiography is due out in November. Ben Haenow Ben Haenow won the X Factor in 2014 Ben was victorious in the 2014 series, but - despite enjoying a Top 10 album on the notorious Syco label - he was mercilessly dropped by the start of 2016. Even a duet with Kelly Clarkson, Second Hand Heart, couldn't save him after it stalled at Number 21. The handsome crooner hasn't given up the ghost, though - he's embarking on a nationwide UK tour in March, which will see him on the road for much of the Spring. Fans haven't completely deserted him though - he still has 300,000 + followers on Twitter.

Louisa Johnson Louisa Johnson (Photo: Rowan Griffiths/Daily Mirror) Billed as the 2015 series winner from early-on, Louisa Johnson wowed fans with her amazing vocals and matching confidence - despite being just 17 at the time, making her the programme's youngest-ever victor. Her debut single, Forever Young, entered the charts at number nine, and became the lowest ever position on entry for a debut single from an X Factor winner. Her follow-up, So Good, fared even worse and peaked at Number 13. It's the first track from her debut LP, which is yet to see the light of day. So who is your favourite X Factor winner? poll loading The Top 10 biggest selling X Factor debut singles and albums revealed! 08 December 2012 The Top 10 biggest selling X Factor debut singles and albums revealed! Ahead of tonight’s X Factor final, the Official Charts Company reveal the Top 10 biggest selling debut singles and debut albums by all of the X Factor acts to date.

2610 By Dan Lane Ahead of tonight’s X Factor final, the Official Charts Company reveal the Top 10 biggest selling debut singles and debut albums by all of the X Factor acts to date. Later this evening, Christopher Maloney, Jahmene Douglas and James Arthur will begin battling it out to win the 2012 series of the X Factor, and a once-in-a-lifetime chance of a major label recording contract. However, according to the Official Charts Company’s analysis of all the show’s former contestants, they could all already be winners. The Top 10 biggest selling debut singles and albums by previous X Factor stars is dominated exclusively by acts who made it into the final three of each year’s competition. 2008 winner Alexandra Burke’s Hallelujah is the biggest selling debut single by an X Factor act, having sold 1.2 million copies to date.

There have only been 123 million selling singles in the 60 year history of the Official Singles Chart , and X Factor stars' debut singles account for three of them (four if you include Leona Lewis' follow-up single, Bleeding Love); the other two are 2005 winner Shayne Ward’s That’s My Goal (which is Number 2 in our countdown with sales of 1.1 million sales to date), and 2010 winner Matt Cardle’s When We Collide (Number 3 in our countdown with over a million sales). The biggest selling debut single by a runner up is What Makes You Beautiful (Number 6) by One Direction, who came third in 2010’s competition, while debut releases by JLS (who came second in 2008), and Olly Murs (who came second in 2009), also make it into the Top 10. The biggest selling debut album by an X Factor contestant is 2006 winner Leona Lewis’ Spirit, which has sold over 3 million copies to date.

JLS’ self-title debut is at Number 2 with sales of over 1.4 million copies, while Alexandra Burke’s Overcome is at Number 3 with sales of 816,000 copies. The Top 5 is completed by One Direction’s Up All Night (777,000 sales to date) and Olly Murs’ self-titled debut album (761,000 sales). The full Official Top 10 Biggest Selling X Factor Debut Singles And Albums are as follows: The Official Top 10 Biggest Selling X Factor Debut Singles The X Factor winners: Where are they now? | The X Factor 2017 | TellyMix The X Factor winners: Where are they now? Share on Twitter Share on Facebook With The X Factor 2013 approaching, we look back on the past ten years of the show and the winners. Steve Brookstein won the first ever show in 2004 and despite hitting the top spot with his debut single, fell out with Simon and was dropped less than 6 months later. Shayne Ward initially had great success after winning in 2005, with a double platinum selling album.

Over the years however sales declined, with his third album last year failing to reach the top 10. Simon dropped Shayne in April of last year, but the singer went on to star in the West End. Aside from Little Mix and current champ James Arthur, Leona is currently the only X Factor winner still with Simon. She's had huge success across the world, topping the charts with debut single 'Bleeding Love', but more recently has struggled. Leona's latest album, Glassheart, has managed to shift only 50,000 copies to date, well down on the sales of her debut back in 2007. After being dropped less than a year after winning in 2007, Leon pretty much disappeared. He's currently still writing a second album (apparently) due for release independently. Alexandra Burke was a huge hit on The X Factor 2008 and her first album spawned 5 top 10 hits. However, Alex split from Simon Cowell earlier this in a move to RCA records. Her second album is due out next year. There is a sense of déjà vu as we come to another male winner.

Joe McElderry, like most of those before him, was dropped by Cowell just a year after winning. He's now signed with Universal Music's Decca label and will release a new album later this month. Matt Cardle won the show last year but like all other male winner's to date, his debut album and single didn't do much to trouble the charts. Matt was dumped by his record label after the flop, but has gone on to insist he was happy to go on his own way. "I feel super-excited to be finally in control, and fully in control of what I am doing musically and the direction I am going in," he said ahead of the release of his new album The Fire last year. After becoming the first ever group to win The X Factor, Little Mix have gone on to huge success across the world. While still quite shy of the huge fandom of their boyband counterparts One Direction, the girls have still broken records. After their own tour earlier this year, their debut album DNA went on to become highest charting debut from a British girl group in the US, charting at number four in the American charts.

James Arthur won the show last year and has gone on to secure the biggest selling X Factor winner's song ever, but can he keep up the sales with the release of his new single and debut album later this year? X Factor winners: where are they now? - Telegraph X Factor X Factor winners: where are they now? With X Factor's sixth "boot camp" starting this weekend, we take a look at what previous winners achieved and where they are now. Leona Lewis, one of the most successful X Factor winners. Photo: AP By Amy Willis 7:00AM BST 26 Sep 2009 X Factor, 2004 (series one) Steve Brookstein from London won the first series of X Factor after beating group G4 in the final. After winning X Factor Brookstein was signed to record label Sony BMG and released single Against All Odds. The song reached No. 1 on the UK singles charts after selling 250,000 copies but Brookstein failed to produce a second single. Record label Sony BMG dropped him after just one year.

X Factor, 2005 (series two) Shayne Ward won the 16-24s category with Louis Walsh in series two of the show. His first single That's My Goal became Christmas No. 1 and held the spot for four weeks. His second single No Promises reached No. 2 and a third single Stand By Me reached No. 14. Ward's album Shayne Ward was certified platinum after selling 520,000 copies in the UK and 200,000 worldwide. Ward developed vocal cord nodules in 2006, a condition that stopped the career of singer Julie Andrews, but was successfully treated. Ward is currently working on a third album to be released this year. Related Articles 08 Dec 0111 X Factor, 2006 (series three) Leona Lewis won the third series of X Factor and is perhaps the most popular winner of the show to date. Her first single A Moment Like This broke music world records after it was downloaded 50,000 times in 30 minutes.

Lewis became an international star in 2007 after signing a £5 million contract with American record company J Records. Her second single Bleeding Love became record of the year and her first album became the UK's fourth fastest selling album of all time. Since winning X Factor Lewis has won several music awards including Newcomer of the Year in 2007. She is currently working on her second album. X Factor, 2007 (series four) Leon Jackson won the fourth series of X Factor in new judge Dannii Minogue's Boys category. His first single When You Believe reached No. 1 and his second single Don't Call This Love reached No. 3. Other singles failed to do as well. In March this year Jackson was dropped from record label Sony BMG but is continuing to tour with former X Factor contestants Same Difference. X Factor, 2008 (series five) Alexandra Burke's first single Hallelujah sold 105,000 copies in one day breaking the world record previously held by X Factor winner Leona Lewis. The song sold more than one million copies in the UK which was the first time a solo female artist had achieved this.

In March this year, Simon Cowell said he expected the singer to be as successful as previous winner Leona Lewis. Burke's first album in due to be released in October. Sam Bailey's No.1 second lowest selling X Factor winner's single: see the Top 10 | Central - ITV News 22 December 2013 at 7:00pm Sam Bailey's No.1 second lowest selling X Factor winner's single: see the Top 10 Official Charts company Logo Photo: Official Charts Company X Factor winner Sam Bailey might have been crowned Christmas Number One 2013, but her first week sales are the second lowest in the show's history. Not since Steve Brookstein's winner's single in 2004, have copies been so slow on the download or off the shelves. But how well did the other X Factor winners do? Here's how many singles the winners of each series shifted in their first week. 1.

Shayne Ward - That's My Goal - 2005 Copies sold in first week: 742,180 First chart position: 1 Weeks at Number One: 4 X Factor first week sales ranking: 1 Series Two winner Shayne Ward is yet to be knocked off the top spot with his X Factor's winner's single first week sales. Unusually this song was rush released the Wednesday before Christmas as it wasn't ready once the Mancunian shop assistant was crowned winner in the Saturday night final. Even so it sold more than 700,000 copies in five days - 313,000 of these in its first two days on sale, and then went on to become the second biggest-selling single of 2005, easily claiming the Christmas Number One spot. 2.

Alexandra Burke - Hallelujah - 2008 Copies sold in first week: 576,046 First chart position: 1 Weeks at Number One: 3 X Factor first week sales ranking: 2 In 2009 Alexandra Burke stole the nation's hearts when in the final, she almost had a nervous breakdown on live television while performing a duet with her musical idol Beyonce. Then, when she was announced series winner, she was similarly shocked, and blubbed her way through the second live performance of her first single, a cover of Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah'. It stormed the Christmas chart, and is the second best selling X Factor winner's single of all time. 3. Leona Lewis - A Moment Like This - 2006 Copies sold in first week: 571,253 First chart position: 1 Weeks at Number One: 4 X Factor first week sales ranking: 3 Leona Lewis remains the biggest selling artist to emerge from the X Factor with 4.4 million singles sales and 3.9 million albums sales to her name. She got all that started off in style with her single 'A Moment Like This'.

It was originally penned for Kelly Clarkson as the 2003 American Idol winner's single - and it served the same purpose for Leona in 2006, safely securing her the Christmas top spot. 4. James Arthur - Impossible - 2012 Copies sold in first week: 490,000 First chart position: 1 Weeks at Number One: 3 X Factor first week sales ranking: 4 James Arthur's debut is one of the fastest selling singles in X Factor winners history. In the week after claiming series glory - 490,000 copies of 'Impossible' were sold - but surprisingly the cover version originally released by Barbadian singer-songwriter Shontelle, wasn't enough to get him the Christmas top spot. It was released a week before the chart race began, and was narrowly beaten by the Justice Collective - a charity single for the victims of the Hillsborough disaster, including contributions from Robbie Williams and former X Factor contestant Rebecca Ferguson, with a cover of The Hollies' He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother. 5.

Joe McElderry - The Climb - 2009 Copies sold in first week: 450,838 First chart position: 2 Weeks at Number One: 1 X Factor first week sales ranking: 5 Joe McElderry's Miley Cyrus cover had everything it needed to get the Christmas Number One spot - massive promotion, an even bigger key change, and Saturday night prime time TV exposure - but all that was derailed by an online campaign to stop Simon Cowell's supposed monopoly on the top of the festive charts. The battle was won by a re-release of 'Killing In The Name Of' by Rage Against The Machine - perhaps not the best single as a stocking filler! Nevertheless, it beat Mr McElderry's very respectable 450,000 single sales - by around 52,000 copies & downloads. The X Factor winner did however claim the top spot the following week. 6.

Matt Cardle 'When We Collide' - 2010 Copies sold in first week: 439,007 First chart position: 1 Weeks at Number One: 3 X Factor first week sales ranking: 6 Biffy Clyro fans didn't take too kindly to the reworking of the Scottish rock group's hit 'Many Of Horror (When We Collide)', which was simply titled 'When We Collide' when released as Matt Cardle's winner's single. It shifted double Little Mix managed a year later, and reclaimed the Christmas Number One spot after Simon Cowell's talent act was kept at bay by Rage Against The Machine in 2009. 7. Leon Jackson - When You Believe - 2007 Copies sold in first week: 275,742 First chart position: 1 Weeks at Number One: 3 X Factor first week sales ranking: 7 Leon Jackson took on an almighty duet by arguably the biggest singing divas in history for his winner's single. 'When You Believe' was a worldwide smash for Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey - which the 2009 winner did his best to emulate.

In the years when it seemed inevitable a Simon Cowell managed artist would go straight in at Christmas Number One, Leon Jackson got the gift he was looking for, but with nowhere near the number of first week sales we've come to expect of late. 8. Little Mix - 'Cannonball' - 2011 Copies sold in first week: 210,000 First chart position: 1 Weeks at Number One: 1 X Factor first week sales ranking: 8 Despite being the fastest selling single of 2011 - Little Mix's cover of Damian Rice's Cannonball, which was originally released by the Irish folk singer in 2003, sold just 210,000 copies in its first week. Again, released the week before the Christmas chart - the girl band missed out on being on top on the big day - instead it belonged to another girl group - the Military Wives led by Gareth Malone - the 100 strong choir of the wives of servicemen on tour in Afghanistan, with Wherever You Are. 9.

Sam Bailey - 'Skyscraper' - 2013 Copies sold in first week: 149,000 First chart position: 1 Christmas chart position: 1 X Factor first week sales ranking: 9 Sam Bailey's single may well have gone straight to Christmas Number One, but her version of 'Skyscraper' has had the lowest first week sales for an X Factor Winner's single since Steve Brookstein's offering after the first series in 2004. It seems the support on the show, did not translate into single sales. In the midweek chart she had managed to shift 67,000 copies, and her first week sales are dwarfed by James Arthur's 490,000 copies last year. 10. Steve Brookstein - Against All Odds - 2004 Copies sold in first week: 127,701 First chart position: 2 Weeks at Number One: 1 X Factor first week sales ranking: 9 Phil Collins' classic Against All Odds was chosen as the first winner's song when X Factor burst onto our screens 10 years ago.

But against the might of Band Aid 20's reworking of 'Do They No It's Christmas', it was no match, and managed number 2 in the race for Christmas Number One 2004. It did however climb to pole position when the New Year came. It is the lowest selling X Factor winner's single since the series began. Last updated Sun 29 Dec 2013

Question: Which winner of X Factor had the best selling single of 2008?
Answer: Alexandra Burke